Head boxes for ingot moulds

ABSTRACT

Head boxes are positioned accurately on ingot mould bodies by means of engagement of a depending flange on the bottom outer edge of the headbox with the outside of the ingot mould body.

United States Patent Lacjak et a1.

[ Apr. 22, 1975 HEAD BOXES FOR INGOT MOULDS Inventors: Richard Andrew Lacjak, Bedford Heights; Geoffrey Fenton, Rocky River, both of Ohio Foseco International Limited, Birmingham. England Filed: Feb. 9, 1973 Appl. No.: 331,097

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 17, 1972 United Kingdom 7453/72 US. Cl. 249/202 Int. Cl B22d 7/10; B660 1/10 Field of Search 249/106. 197, 198. 199.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1916 Gathmann 249/106 1.188.751 6/1916 Gathmann 249/106 3.166.806 1/1965 Daley 249/201 3.384.149 5/1968 Eastwood" 249/106 3.612.471 10/1971 Atkinson 249/202 3.756.554 9/1973 Lacjak 249/202 Prinmry E.\'aminerC. W. Lanham Assistzm! E.\'uminerE. M. Combs Anornqv, Agent. or F rm-C ushman, Darby & Cushman 2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures HEAD BOXES FOR INGOT MOULDS FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to head boxes for ingot moulds. In the casting of metals, for example, steel, in big end up" ingot moulds it is common practice to provide a device, usually a hollow iron casting lined with a thermal insulating material, to surmount the top of the ingot mould. Such a device is known as a head box.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART The seating of a head box on an ingot mould is usually effected by a crane operative whose crane cab is typically some distance from the ingot mould and who usually has to complete his task relying on his vision both of the ingot mould and of visual instructions given by operatives at the ingot mould, though ideally he should need have no recourse to the latter. However, while it is comparatively easy to the crane operative to position correctly such a headbox along a horizontal line at right angles to his line of vision, in general it is difficult for him to position correctly the head box at the ingot mould along his line of vision. Inaccurate seating, of course, impairs the efficacy of the head box.

It is known to dimension the base of the head box so that it seats with a part thereof inside the ingot mould mouth, thus providing a centering reference between the head box and the mould and facilitating the crane operativcs task to position the head box accurately. However, as a clearance allowance has to be made between the base of the casting and the ingot mould wall, there is a tendency for seal leaks to occur giving rise to fins of cast metal, the presence of which subsequently gives rise to problems during the rolling of the cast ingot.

In a more recent design of head box, the base of the head box is dimensioned so that it seats entirely on the top surface of the ingot mould mouth. This avoids the tendency to seal leaks but makes the crane operatives task in centering the head box along his line of vision more difficult, as there is no longer a centering reference between the head box and the mould. This difficulty is further exacerbated by varying degrees of imbalance due to casting imperfections in the head box and minor aecretions of metal during use, which cause the head box not only to hang skew to the vertical from the crane but also to rotate when only the lowest portion of the head box meets the ingot mould. Moreover, head boxes are frequently too heavy to be finely adjusted manually.

OBJECTS OF THIS INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel form of head box construction which avoids the disadvantages noted above.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a headbox which can be speedily and accurately positioned on the ingot mould body by a crane even when the crane driver is remote from the headbox.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THIS INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a head box which possesses on at least one part of its basal periphery at least one downwardly projecting flange, the inner surface of the or each flange being adapted to locate substantially contiguously with a coactive part of the outer surface of the top of an ingot mould body whereby to position the head box accurately thereon.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION OF THIS INVENTION This invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic sectioned side elevation of a head box according to the present invention seated on an ingot mould body,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of FIG. 1 viewed from A, and

FIG. 3 is a side view of a head box and ingot mould during assembly.

Referring to the drawings, a head box I has a base 2 the inner portion 3, of which is inset to receive a seal 4 which is the flared lower portion of a refractory thermal insulating lining comprising the hot top 5. This hot top extends substantially over the entire inner surface of the head box 1. Part of the periphery 7 of the base possesses a downwardly projecting flange 8 the inner surface 9 of which is formed to match the coactive outer face 10 of the top of an ingot mould 11.

The head box carried two turning trunnions 12 mounted on one pair of opposite sides of the head box, and two carrying trunnions l3 mounted on the other pair of opposite sides of the head box.

The head box is carried to the ingot mould by its carrying trunnions 13 on the jib of a crane (not shown) so that the projecting flange 8 is on the trailing edge of the carried hot top. When the inner surface 9 of the flange 8 contacts the outer face 10 of the ingot mould 11, the head box is lowered onto the ingot mould, the inner surface of the FIG. 8 thereby becoming contiguous with the outer surface 10 of the top of the ingot mould 11 and ensuring correct location and sealing of the lead box.

The carrying trunnions 13 are preferably located such that, when suspended from the crane, the head box has a deliberate degree of imbalance with the flange 8 being lower than any other part of the head box and the base surfaces 2, 3 of the head box being inclined upwards at an angle from the horizontal (as shown in FIG. 3).

It will be appreciated that a head box of this invention may be provided with more than one such downwardly projecting flange (which may be of different sizes) and that one or more such flanges may be removable from the hot top after it has been correctly seated. Removable flanges can, of course, be incorporated into head boxes of existing design.

Furthermore, two such flanges may be disposed on adjacent sides of the base of the new box to facilitate the correct seating of the head box on the ingot mould in two perpendicular horizontal directions.

We claim as our invention:

1. In an ingot mould head box comprising a pair of lifting lugs and a flange depending from the base of the head box adapted to lie with its inner face contiguous with an outer face of an ingot mould body when the head box is correctly positioned thereon, the improvement wherein the flange and the lifting lugs are so positioned that when the head box is suspended by the lifting lugs, the flange is lowermost and the base of the head box is inclined to the horizontal.

2. The head box of claim 1 wherein the flange depends from the lower outer periphery of the head box. =l l 

1. In an ingot mould head box comprising a pair of lifting lugs and a flange depending from the base of the head box adapted to lie with its inner face contiguous with an outer face of an ingot mould body when the head box is correctly positioned thereon, the improvement wherein the flange and the lifting lugs are so positioned that when the head box is suspended by the lifting lugs, the flange is lowermost and the base of the head box is inclined to the horizontal.
 1. In an ingot mould head box comprising a pair of lifting lugs and a flange depending from the base of the head box adapted to lie with its inner face contiguous with an outer face of an ingot mould body when the head box is correctly positioned thereon, the improvement wherein the flange and the lifting lugs are so positioned that when the head box is suspended by the lifting lugs, the flange is lowermost and the base of the head box is inclined to the horizontal. 